Pain in the Pancreas
We all have a pancreas and it is a flat and narrow organ that is located behind your stomach. It is this organ that makes powerful enzymes that are used to digest fats, carbohydrates and proteins and this takes place in the small intestine. This organ also has “islets” and this is where insulin and glycogen comes from. Even though the exact working of the pancreas is not fully understood, doctors know that most pancreatic enzymes enter the small intestines in a inactive form. They feel that when a pancreas attack happens, it is because these enzymes are stopped from reaching the small intestines and then once activated, begin to digest the pancreas.
Pancreatitis is the term that doctors use to describe a chronic or acute inflammation of the pancreas. Symptoms of pancreatitis can be felt as abdominal pain that goes from the upper belly to the back. This pain can range from mild to swelling of the organ which can cause organ failure. A series of acute attacks is known as chronic pancreatitis and is a condition that is progressive. It is possible for the pancreas to sustain permanent damage as these attacks will cause constant or intermittent pains.
This condition is seen more often in men than women other symptoms of pancreatitis are irritated by gall bladder disease and alcoholism. It is these two factors that are said to be responsible for nearly eighty percent of pancreatitis attacks. There is another ten percent that is idiopathic and the last ten percent of this condition is felt to be caused by various things. One being drugs like estrogen and valproic acid. Trauma or surgery in the area of the pancreas can also contribute to this condition as well as pancreatic cancer and Reye’s syndrome in children. If you have a viral infection like hepatitis A and B or Epstein-Barr or mumps, these to can play a part in the development of this condition. There is also cystic fibrosis that can come into the picture and hypertriglyceridemia, hypercalcemia and hyperparathyroidism. Most of the attacks of pancreatitis are actually mild but can cause jaundice, vomiting, weakness and nausea. If you are feeling any symptoms of pancreatitis then you should know there are a few tests that can be performed to diagnose this condition. Your doctor can test for levels of amylase, lipase and trypsin. He can also do a complete blood count or a comprehensive metabolic panel.
